The American Lesson after 9/11

In just a few days, it will be 10 years since the collapse of the WTC towers in New York. The terrorist attacks managed to strike America harder than any other war, crisis or natural disaster in its entire history.

The images dated Sept. 11, 2011, with the planes crashing, one after the other, into the two skyscrapers, are still as harrowing as ever today. Similarly, the images of the twin towers collapsing torment the soul whenever they are revisited.

In this case there is and will never be “too much.” The terrorists’ attack was so deep it did not reach only the soul of the American people, but its impact ricocheted to all of us. The fact that some people, even among us, stooped so low so as to enjoy the “slap” served to the arrogant Americans is only the expression of pure bestiality within some human specimens.

And, nevertheless, in spite of the blow they received in their very heart when some of the U.S.’ symbols were lost forever (and we are not talking only about the two WTC buildings), the American people have proven why they have become and continue to be a global force built almost from scratch during just a few centuries.

It is not their money, their gravity-defying, sky-scraping buildings, nor their economy that globalized the entire worldwide production and turned the U.S. into what it is now. The way the U.S. has reconstructed Ground Zero, and especially the way in which it rewrote its history after 9/11 by placing the Memorial and Museum on the very spot where the Twin Towers rose 10 years ago is the absolute proof of the spirit of this nation. Not even an army of planes full of terrorists could break this spirit, and no matter how many buildings are torn down by the enemies of civilization, this spirit will not be brought down to its knees.

There is, of course, as much propaganda in movies created for commemorating 10 years since the NY terrorist attacks as there is in the American movie industry, media and politics in general. This is true. The classic clichés of the world across the ocean are present in Steven Spielberg’s movie on the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the twin towers. But there is something more besides the classical good versus evil. There is a lesson that the Americans learned for the first time in their short history.

Sept. 11 showed them what it was like to feel pain, to commemorate, to grieve for their victims. But above all, 9/11 taught them what it was like to be mortal. Without ever having been deprived of their most cherished and precious possessions, as Pearl Harbor was a distant pain (literally and figuratively), the terrorist attack that took place in the heart of New York City and the collapse of the WTC towers was a new beginning for the United States of America.

Instead of losing something to the terrorists, the U.S. gained a lot. Now it has a place that is richer in history, meaning and significance than any other: Ground Zero. In the former location of the twin towers, Americans learned to look down as well. It is there that the American spirit rises from the deep. In a way, Ground Zero has now become the most representative and most touching place in America.

The space where the buildings collapsed forms a symbol that is more valuable than anything the U.S. ever imagined having. It is their biggest pride. It is the lesson they can offer to the world. Their message is that no blow, no matter how painful, can take you down forever. No matter for how long it brings you to your knees.